TV Industry and Harvard Team Up to Recruit Mentors for At-Risk Youth

The School of Public Health has released a status report on the Harvard Mentoring Project, a national media campaign launched last year in partnership with the Hollywood creative community and leading television networks to recruit mentors for at-risk youth.

The School's Center for Health Communication is directing this initiative with funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The MCJ Foundation. The Center previously created the National Designated Driver Campaign and the "Squash It!" Campaign to Prevent Youth Violence.

Here are highlights from the report:

ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC broadcast networks have produced public service announcements (PSAs) promoting mentoring that are airing frequently in prime-time. The spots are tagged with a toll-free number enabling viewers to call for information on mentoring opportunities in their local communities. The PSAs are generating 1,000 to 2,000 calls each week.

National and regional cable networks have come on board, joining the major broadcast networks in committing extensive airtime to promote mentoring.

HBO is producing a PSA for the campaign featuring Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of America's Promise--The Alliance for Youth. The PSA will be distributed this summer to all television outlets by the National Association of Broadcasters and the National Cable Television Association. HBO previously produced several PSAs for the campaign that aired frequently on BET, CNBC, CNN, HBO, TNT, and other cable networks.

Hollywood producers and writers of top-rated prime-time series, including ER and Seinfeld, have written episodes with dialogue or story lines dealing with mentoring.

The campaign's communication strategy consists of three components: advertising, entertainment programming, and news. Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Inc. is serving as the campaign's pro bono advertising agency. Campaign advisers include Raymond Chambers, Michael Crichton, Barry Diller, Quincy Jones, Newton Minow, Father J. Donald Monan, S.J., Paul O'Brien, Stanley Shuman, Frank Stanton, Ann Tenenbaum, and Grant Tinker.

Jay Winsten, director of the Harvard Mentoring Project, commented, "Research has shown that a positive relationship with a mentor can steer a young person away from drugs, violence, school dropout, and teen pregnancy. This industry-wide initiative on behalf of young people demonstrates the power of television to do good." Winsten is the Frank Stanton Director of the Center for Health Communication and SPH associate dean for public and community affairs.

Of the estimated 15 million at-risk children in the United States, only 300,000 to 400,000 currently receive the benefits of mentoring. The largest program, Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America, reaches 105,000 young people -- with 30,000 more on the waiting list.

Susan Moses, the Center's deputy director, commented, "Our effort is twofold: to recruit additional volunteers for existing programs and to stimulate the creation of new projects sponsored by businesses, religious groups, and civic organizations, with their members serving as mentors."

Nonprofit partners in the campaign include America's Promise -- the Alliance for Youth, Big Brothers-Big Sisters of America, the Mentoring Policy Council, One to One|The National Mentoring Partnership, the Points of Light Foundation, and Save the Children.

This initiative follows from the Presidents' Summit on America's Future, chaired by Gen. Colin Powell, which was held last year in Philadelphia. The Summit launched an effort to secure commitments from corporations, nonprofits, and individual citizens to help young people who are at risk of not leading healthy, productive lives.

To sustain the momentum of the Summit, Powell is heading a new organization, America's Promiseæthe Alliance for Youth. The goal of America's Promise is to mobilize institutions and individuals to provide young people with five fundamental resources: an ongoing relationship with a caring adult or mentor; safe places and structured activities during non-school hours; ready access to health care; a marketable skill through effective education; and an opportunity to give back through public service.

America's Promise asked the Harvard Mentoring Project to take the lead responsibility for promoting mentoring through the national media.

Within Massachusetts, a new statewide initiative, The Massachusetts Promise, will extend the reach of the national effort to help at-risk youth. One-to-One|The Mass Mentoring Partnership, which is overseeing a statewide plan to recruit mentors, has asked the Harvard Mentoring Project to help develop the media component of this initiative.

The Harvard Mentoring Project is an outgrowth of the "Squash It!" Campaign to Prevent Youth Violence. Funded by the Joyce Foundation, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Foundation, and the Max Factor Family Foundation, "Squash It!" includes a national media component encouraging young people to disengage from potentially violent confrontations. "Squash It!" also hosted a series of Harvard-MetLife Leadership Forums enabling young people to express themselves before audiences of influential citizens. The critical need for mentors is the most important message that emerged from the Forum discussions.

The new mentoring initiative uses media strategies that were pioneered in the Center's landmark Designated Driver Campaign, which was launched in 1988 in collaboration with major Hollywood studios and leading television networks. During four television seasons, more than 160 prime-time episodes depicted the use of designated drivers, and network-sponsored PSAs were broadcast up to 10 to 20 times per week. The New York Times estimated that the campaign generated more than $100 million each year in donated network airtime. Public relations activities further reinforced the campaign, generating extensive news coverage. By 1993, 65 million Americans had served as designated drivers, contributing to a 30 percent decline in annual fatalities from drunk driving.